Management of oral Myiasis

Hope for the first time introduced myiasis in 1840, as a disease of the animals which sometimes affects the human organs. The word myiasis was derived from a Greek word “myia” which means fly. Zumpt (1965) defined myiasis as “the infestation of live humans and vertebrate animals with dipterous larvae, which at least for a certain period feed on the host’s dead or living tissue”. Oral myiasis is a rare condition which was first described by Laurence (1909). It is defined as “the invasion of the soft tissue or towards foul smelling pus discharge from the tissues, where it is induced to lay eggs”. Myiasis is caused by Diptera order flies and the genus commonly involved are Sarcophaga and Chlorysoma (Zumpt-1965, James-1947). Myiasis frequently occurs in rural areas infecting livestock and pets such as cats and dogs. In humans myiasis prevails in unhealthy individuals found in third world countries. The predisposing factors are persistent mouth opening along with poor oral hygiene, suppurative lesions and facial trauma. Oral myiasis is rare in comparison to cutaneous myiasis, as the oral tissues are not permanently exposed to external environment. Here we present a case of oral myiasis affecting the anterior aspect of the hard palate.